I never read of any men more sincere or more earnest than those men at Mount Carmel, those false prophets. They were terribly in earnest.
Some people say, "Why, if these men are holding, as you say, error, why should they be so in earnest?" Those prophets of Baal were the most earnest men I ever read of. You do not read of men getting so in earnest now that they take knives and cut themselves. Look at them leaping upon their altars; hear their cry, "O Baal! O Baal!" We never heard that kind of prayer on this platform. They acted like madmen.
They were terribly in earnest, yet did G.o.d hear their cry? They were all slain. "I believe one religion is just as good as another, if you are only sincere in what you believe." It is one of the devil"s lies.
HAVE FAITH IN G.o.d,
not in man. I don"t care how good a man is, don"t you put your faith in him. His breath departs from him, he dies, and where is your help?
Our G.o.d never dies, our G.o.d never will disappoint us if we put our faith in Him. "Have faith in G.o.d," says Christ.
I saw some time ago some men arranging to go up in a balloon fastened to the car. They had one rope fastened, and by some mistake that rope got untied, and instead of seizing hold of the car they seized hold of the rope. One of them let go; the other just hung on, and he was swept away in the heavens and lost. "It did not make any difference; if he had hung on to the car it would have been just the same," you say, "if he was only sincere." Why, that man was very sincere when he seized hold of that rope, yet he was lost--perished in his earnestness. My friends, bear in mind if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you must perish. It is G.o.d that says it--not man. Some people say, "He is such a good man, I cannot help but believe him; it is all right because he is such a good man, and he holds that doctrine." Paul says, "If a man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." And if Gabriel should come right down here to-night, and commence to proclaim a different gospel from this platform, I would get out of the hall, and would not listen to him.
DECEIVERS AND DARK DAYS.
Deceivers are going out into the world who would deceive even the very elect if they could. I believe we are living in dark days. Error is coming in on all sides, and it is a time when we must maintain the faith. "I have kept the faith," says Paul. The good old doctrine of our forefathers, and of the Puritans, is a good deal better than your new doctrine at the present time, that is just doing away with Christ, with h.e.l.l, and even with heaven. Let us cling to the word of G.o.d, and have faith in G.o.d.
There was a young man G.o.d sent down to Bethel, and told him to prophesy against it. He was not to eat and drink in the place, nor to go back by the same way as he went. Down the young man went. The king asked him to go to his palace, but he refused. No, G.o.d had told him to go and prophesy, not to eat and drink. But there was an old prophet, and he sent out word to tell him an angel had told him to invite him, and the young man obeyed the voice of the angel rather than G.o.d, and then he started home another way, and a lion met him and slew him. We are not to put our faith in this man or that man, not even in a prophet if it is contrary to the word of G.o.d; not to believe the best man living if it is contrary to the word of G.o.d. If G.o.d says it, let us take our stand upon it. G.o.d"s word will stand when these men and their names have been swept away and forgotten. There have always been false teachers, men trying to teach us it does not make any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. My friends, let us have faith in the living G.o.d, and then it will be light where it is darkness now.
HOW TO GET FAITH.
Now, just turn to John xx. I can imagine some of you saying, "I would like to have faith in G.o.d, but I do not know how to get it; I have been praying a long time for faith." I used to pray, "O G.o.d, give me faith," and at the same time I was all the time neglecting the Bible.
Here it stands; see how we are to get faith: "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of G.o.d; and that believing ye might have life through His name." Now John took up his pen and wrote the gospel for one express purpose. What was it?
That men might believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of G.o.d. Every chapter but two in John speaks of believing, and if you run through the gospel and mark out the word "believe," you would find what that gospel is written for. It is, "Believe, believe, believe, believe,"
and it keeps right on to that one thing. He took up his pen and wrote that gospel that we might believe, and by believing we get life. Then turn to Romans x. 15: "How shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of G.o.d." Do you want to know how to get faith? It is to get acquainted with G.o.d. Jehovah says, "Acquaint now thyself with me, and be at peace." We find the people that are best acquainted with G.o.d have the most peace. It is the people that do not know G.o.d that do not trust Him. The people that know G.o.d put their trust in Him. I never knew a man to be well acquainted with G.o.d who did not trust Him. The more you know of a true man the more you trust him. I met a man ten years ago for the first time; I had not much faith in him, because I did not know much about him. In the course of a year I got well acquainted with him, and found him to be a true man; then I had more faith in him; the second year I had still more; and this year I have more faith in him than ever, because I know him well now. If you know G.o.d you cannot help trusting Him.
LITTLE WILLIE.
I wanted to teach my little boy what faith was some time ago, and so I put him on a table. He was a little fellow two years old. I stood back three or four feet, and said, "Willie, jump." The little fellow said, "Pa, I"se afraid." I said, "Willie, I will catch you; just look right at me, and jump"; and the little fellow got all ready to jump, and then looked down again, and says, "I"se afraid." "Willie, didn"t I tell you I would catch you? Will Pa deceive you? Now, Willie, look me right in the eye, and jump, and I will catch you"; and the little fellow got all ready the third time to jump, but he looked on the floor, and said, "I"se afraid." "Didn"t I tell you I would catch you?"
"Yes." At last I said, "Willie, don"t take your eyes off me," and I held the little fellow"s eyes, and I said, "Now jump; don"t look at the floor"; and he leaped into my arms. Then he said to me, "Let me jump again." I put him back, and, the moment he got on the table he jumped, and after that, when he was on the table, and I was standing five or six feet away, I heard him cry, "Pa, I"se coming," and had just time to rush and catch him. He seemed to put too much confidence in me. But you cannot put too much confidence in G.o.d. Now faith never looks down; it looks right up. G.o.d says, "Trust me," and G.o.d will bring us through all our difficulties, if we will only trust Him. Who will trust Him to-night? Who will have faith in Him to-night?
"Whatsoever He saith unto thee, do it," is what the mother of Christ said at the wedding; and whatsoever G.o.d speaks to you, do it. If G.o.d tells you to run, run. If G.o.d says, "Believe," believe, and you will always be safe in doing just what G.o.d tells you to do.
UNBELIEF THE GREATEST ENEMY.
I have a great admiration for the old coloured woman who said, if G.o.d told her to jump through a stone wall she would jump; getting through the wall was G.o.d"s work, not hers, and she would do whatever G.o.d told her to do. The greatest enemy G.o.d and man have got is unbelief. Christ found it on both sides of the cross. It was the very thing that put Him to death. The Jews did not believe Him; they did not believe G.o.d had sent Him; they took Him to Calvary and murdered Him; and the first thing we find after He got up out of the grave was unbelief again.
Thomas, one of His own disciples, did not believe He had risen. He said, Thomas, feel these wounds; and Thomas did, and believed, and said "My Lord and my G.o.d." Now those Christians here that have learnt to trust G.o.d in past years will bear me out in this, that the more they know of G.o.d, the more they can trust Him. Why? They have found G.o.d to be true. When man has failed, G.o.d never has failed; and when every one else has disappointed them, G.o.d has proved true. Now, you that never trusted Him, won"t you just leap right into His arms to-night? Won"t you just take Him at His word, and believe on Him now?
THE GREATEST INSULT TO G.o.d.
It is considered you cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell him he is a liar. Unbelief is telling G.o.d He is a liar. Why, suppose a man said, "Mr. Moody, I have no faith in you whatever," don"t you think it would grieve me? There is not anything that would wound a man much more than to be told that you do not have any faith in him. A great many men say, "Oh, I have profound reverence and respect for G.o.d." Yes, profound respect, but not faith. Why, it is a downright insult! Suppose a man says, "Mr. Moody, I have profound respect for you, profound admiration for you, but I do not believe a word you say." I wouldn"t give much for his respect or admiration; I wouldn"t give much for his friendship. G.o.d wants us to put our faith in Him.
How it would wound a mother"s feelings to hear her children say, "I do love mamma so much, but I don"t believe what she says." How it would grieve that mother. And that is about the way a great many of G.o.d"s professed children talk. Some men seem to think it is a great misfortune that they do not have faith. Bear in mind it is not a misfortune, but it is the d.a.m.ning sin of the world.
G.o.d"S WORD IS ALWAYS KEPT.
Is there any reason why you should not have faith in G.o.d? Has G.o.d ever broken His word? I will defy any infidel to come forward and put his finger on any promise G.o.d has ever made to man that He has not kept. I can show you for 6000 years how the devil has lied, and how he has broken every promise he has made. What a lie he told Adam and Eve; and yet I can find a thousand men that will believe one of the devil"s lies quicker than I can find one man that believes G.o.d"s truth. Men will believe lies; but when it gets to real truth, then how few will believe the word of G.o.d. Why should not every man and woman in this house have faith in G.o.d? Why should not every one put confidence in Him now, and trust G.o.d to save them? And let me say, if you are ever saved, you will have to come to this one point of trusting to G.o.d for salvation. You never will be saved until you put your trust and confidence in G.o.d.
SETTING THE SEAL.
Look at John iii. 33: "He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that G.o.d is true." In those days men used to wear a signet ring, with their initials, and instead of signing their names, they used to take the ring and seal the doc.u.ment. That was setting to their seal; that was an endors.e.m.e.nt. And now G.o.d comes down into this unbelieving world, and says, "Who will set to his seal that I am true?" And so I want to ask the friends in this hall, Who will set to his seal or her seal that G.o.d is true? It is a great deal better for us to make ourselves liars and G.o.d true than to try and make ourselves out true and G.o.d a liar. That is what many men will do. Who will set to his seal that G.o.d is true? Unbelief says, "I won"t." Faith says, "I will set to my seal." Oh, may G.o.d help many now to say, "I will set to my seal that G.o.d is true" this very hour; and, my friends, the moment you do set your seal that G.o.d is true, and put your faith in G.o.d, then comes the peace, the happiness you have been looking for so long!
NO PEACE WITHOUT TRUST.
A great many people go looking for peace and happiness before they trust. There will be no peace, no happiness, no joy, until you put your trust in G.o.d. The joy that flows through the Christian"s heart is the result of trusting G.o.d. Suppose I meet a man to-night leaping for joy, laughing at the top of his voice. I say, "My friend, what makes you so happy?" "Oh, I don"t know; I am so happy I cannot contain my feelings!" What would you say? Why, you would say the man had gone mad. But suppose I meet a man whom I have seen out here night after night begging, and I say to him, "Hullo, beggar, is that you?" "Don"t call me a beggar; I am no longer a beggar." "Are not you the man who has been begging here every night?" "Yes." "Where did you get your good clothes? How is this you are not a beggar?" "No, I am no beggar; I am worth a thousand pounds." "How is that?" "Well, sir, last night I was here begging, and a man came along and put a thousand pounds in my hand." "How did you know it was good money?" "I took it to the Bank of England, and they gave me gold for it." "How was it done?" "Well, I just held out my hand, and he came and put a cheque right into it, and I took it to the bank and got gold for it." "Did you really get it in that way?" "Yes." "How do you know it was the right kind of hand?"
"Why," says the beggar, "what do I care about the hand, I have got the money." Faith is the hand that reaches out and takes the blessing. Any faith that brings me to Christ is the right kind of faith, and instead of looking at your faith look to Christ. Some one has said, faith sees a thing in G.o.d"s hand, and says, "I will have it." Unbelief sees it there, and says, "G.o.d won"t give it me." Look to G.o.d by faith to-night and have salvation.
WHO WILL HAVE IT?
Every man and woman may have it if they will but put their trust in G.o.d. Is not G.o.d worthy of our confidence? Is not G.o.d worthy of our trust? You must have a poor opinion of G.o.d if you cannot trust Him. We consider we have a poor opinion of a man if we cannot trust him. If a man should tell me something, and I did not believe a word he said, I would have a very poor opinion of the man. Faith is putting confidence in G.o.d"s word. Take hold of His word to-night. He will save all that will come--not only that, but He will save you when you do come. Away with everything but Christ, and take Him now. Who will take G.o.d at His word to-night? Some one has said, "Faith is saying yes to G.o.d." Who will say yes to-night, and take it? Now, is it too much to ask or to expect that every person in this hall should put their faith in G.o.d?
If G.o.d does not save us, who will? Men cannot, the church cannot, creeds and doctrines cannot; the sacraments cannot save; baptism cannot save. You must have a living personal Christ, and G.o.d presents Him to the world. Who will take Him? Who will have Christ--who will trust Him? Faith says, I will. Is it not the very best thing you can do? Can you do a better thing than trust to G.o.d for salvation? "What must I do to be saved?" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and trust Him now.
STORY OF A CONDEMNED MAN.
Away back some years ago it is recorded in history of a man that was condemned to be put to death, that when he came to lay his head on the block the prince asked him if there was any one pet.i.tion that he could grant him, and all that the condemned man asked for was a gla.s.s of water. They went and got him a tumbler of water, and when he got it his hand trembled so that he could not get it to his mouth. The prince said to him, "Your life is safe until you drink that water." He took the prince at his word, and dashed the water to the ground. They could not gather it up, and so he saved his life. My friends, you can be saved to-night by taking G.o.d at His word. The water of life is offered to "whosoever will." Take it now, and live. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of G.o.d (Rom. x. 17).
Faith is not what we see or feel, It is a simple trust; In what a G.o.d of love has said Of Jesus as the Just.
THE DYING THIEF
Read Luke xxiii. 39-43
I am going to take as my text a man who was the last one saved before Christ went to heaven, or before He died on the cross, and the story of his conversion ought to give hope to every man. We have got an account of the conversion of all cla.s.ses of people in the Bible. There is not one cla.s.s left out. There is the richest and the poorest; the greatest and the smallest; all cla.s.ses of men, and all cla.s.ses of women.
There are so many people nowadays talking against sudden conversions, that I think the very best thing we can do is to see what the Scripture says about it--to see how long it takes G.o.d to convert a soul. If I read my Bible correctly, there were eight thousand converted in two days. That was a good number in a short time, was it not? We have not got to that yet; I wish we had. But I feel sure, if the church of G.o.d would only wake up, we should see something like it.
NEVER TOO LATE.
Well, this man was not only a thief, but a reviler of G.o.d, right upon the threshold of eternity, a most depraved and abandoned wretch.
Matthew tells us: "And the two thieves cast the same in His teeth."
You would have thought they would have been doing something better than that, coming so near death and the grave; and that their thoughts would have been made very solemn in the face of not only death, but after death the judgment. Instead of that, they were reviling Christ, and casting accusations in His teeth a few hours before their death.
Well, I do not think this thief could have sunk any further, until he sunk into h.e.l.l. Though so far off Jesus found him. Matthew and Mark both tell us that these two thieves reviled Him. John says nothing about their reviling; in fact, he does not tell us about one of them being converted. The first we get of it is in Luke xxiii. 40, where we find him saying to the other thief, "Dost not thou fear G.o.d?" Solomon, the wise man, says, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of G.o.d." Now, there we have the beginning of wisdom in this thief. He began to _fear_ G.o.d. I hope there will be hundreds in this building who will fear Him; for that is the true beginning of wisdom.
CONVICTION OF SIN.
Now, the next thing was, the man was convicted. No man is likely to be converted until he is first convicted of sin. This thief was convicted. And what convicted him? He heard no sermon from Christ. The rulers were then deriding Him. The chief men of His own country had found Him guilty of blasphemy, and had condemned Him to die the death of the cross. The chief men of the realm were there wagging their heads and mocking Him. What was it then that convicted this poor thief? He had seen Christ perform no miracles; he had heard no wonderful words fall from His lips; he saw no glittering crown upon His brow. True, it was written over His cross, "Jesus, the King of the Jews"; but where was His kingdom? He saw nothing of the Jews paying homage to Him. The Jews were putting Him to death. There was no sceptre in His hand. True, He had been crowned a little while before, but only with thorns, and yet amidst it all this poor thief was convicted after fear fell upon him.
THE POWER OF LOVE.
What convicted him? I will tell what I think convicted him, though I could not teach it dogmatically but I think it was the Saviour"s prayer. When the Lord Jesus cried out from the very depths of His soul, "Father, forgive them," conviction flashed into his heart. He must have said, "Why, this is more than a man; He has got a very different spirit from me. I could not ask G.o.d to forgive them. I would call down fire from heaven to consume them, and I would call upon G.o.d to smite them with blindness as Elijah did, and I would sweep them from this mountain if I had the power." That"s what he must have thought as he heard the piercing cry go up, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Ah, it was love that broke his heart. In those days, when they crucified a man, they used to scourge him. This poor man had been taken into the court, and tried and condemned by the judge; but that had not broken his heart. He had been led forth and scourged; but that had not broken his heart. And now they had nailed him to the cross; but even that had not broken his heart. There he is reviling his G.o.d. But when he saw that loving Saviour, he got a glimpse of His love, and that one glimpse broke his heart.
I heard of a young man once who was very hardhearted. His father loved him as he loved his own life. He had tried everything he could to win that prodigal boy back. When his father was dying, they sent for him; but he refused to come. But after his father"s death, he returned home to attend the funeral; but not a tear fell from his eyes. He followed that father to his resting-place, and never dropped a tear over his grave. But when they got home, and the will was read, they found that father had not forgotten his prodigal boy, but had remembered him kindly in his will; and that proof of the father"s love just broke his heart. And so I think it must have been with the thief when he heard the Saviour crying, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"; it pierced like an arrow down into his heart, and he was convicted.
CONFESSION FOLLOWS CONVICTION.
Well, then, the next point in this man was, he confessed his sin. He says to his brother thief, "We are suffering justly; we deserve it." I never knew a man saved till he took his stand as a sinner. Cain never confessed his sin. Judas never confessed his sin to G.o.d, though he went and confessed it to man.
Now, I want to say that I am not come here to urge you to confess your sins to any man, unless you have done some sin against him and he is stumbling over it; if so, go and confess that certainly. We must not confess our sins to any but G.o.d. I have not much sympathy with the cla.s.s of people that are always running to this man and that man to confess their sins. There is no priest on earth that can forgive sins.
I have got a high priest who is "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." The only man we have a record of in Scripture who confessed his sins to man was Judas, and he went right out and hung himself.
FAITH IN CHRIST.